Avidin-positive mast cells of the liver when exposed to water-soluble silicon for nine months

Mast cells, due to the mediators contained in them, are active participants in various processes occurring in the body. The reaction of avidin-positive mast cells of the liver to the intake of silicon with drinking water at a concentration of 20 mg/L for nine months was studied. The experiment was conducted on laboratory nonlinear male rats, which were divided into two groups: the control group received bottled drinking water with a silicon concentration of 10 mg/L; the experimental group received the same water, but with the addition of sodium metasilicate nine-hydrate, which was used to adjust the total concentration of silicon in drinking water to 20 mg/L. The mass concentration of silicon in the water of the control and experimental groups was determined using an inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometer 5110 ICP-OES. After nine months, the animals were sacrificed, the liver was extracted and fixed in 10% neutral formalin, processed and embedded in paraffin. After deparaffinization, 6-ìm-thick liver sections were incubated for 30 minutes with green fluorescent-labeled avidin (Avidin, Alexa Fluor^® 488 conjugate, Invitrogen, Germany). The preparations were analyzed under a fluorescence microscope at an excitation light wavelength of 495 nm. According to the results of the study, an increase in the number of avidin-positive mast cells due to weakly fluorescent ones was found in the liver of rats of the experimental group, as well as an increase in the median of their area and fluorescence intensity. It was revealed that the change in the median of area of avidin-positive mast cells in the liver of rats of the experimental group is due to a decrease in the number of small cells and an increase in the number of medium and large cells. Positive strong and positive average correlations were established between the cell area and its intensity in the control and experimental groups, respectively.

Thus, the study made it possible to expand the data on the effect of water-soluble silicon on the liver and indirectly suggest the occurrence of inflammatory processes in the organ under study.